Labyrinth Drabbles
by Jalen Strix
Summary: A series of labyrinth drabbles, inspired by the prompts from the livejournal labyfic community.  A variety of genres and characters, but often humor makes an appearance as a genre and Jareth makes an appearance as a character.
1. Dangers

_Author's Note: A series of drabbles of 100 words or less, inspired by the prompts available from the livejournal labyfic community (community . livejournal . com / labyfic ). These often involve Jareth, since he's an extremely fun character to work with, but other characters make appearances as well (as you'll see from this first drabble)._

* * *

**Prompt: "Dangers"**

_Just a few moments more_, she thought.

He didn't notice her behind him in the shadows, as he leaned along the castle parapet. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, waiting for when his defenses were lowered, for when he'd least expect it.

Her voice rang high and defiant as she swooped in, "Now!"

A casual observer would have noted a sudden swirl of glowing teeth-gnashing motes enveloping the lone figure, followed by several undignified yelps. A forlorn "Cor!" could be heard as the dwarf toppled to the Bog below.

The fairies fluttered above, fierce and vicious smiles on their delicate faces.


	2. Spoiled

**Prompt: "Spoiled"**

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**

They all stared at the rather large mass, unsure of its significance. A few braver souls touched a finger or toe to it, and were rewarded with a rather putrid shininess clinging to their profferred limbs.

The steward spoke first, his normally authoritative voice rather subdued as he wrung his hands. "What will his majesty think? This is completely unacceptable for the ball...and not the sort of impression his majesty wishes to leave with his coming and going."

Hoggle remarked resignedly to Ludo, "I told 'em not to keep that there stock of his majesty's glitter out in the sun."


	3. Chance

**Prompt: "Chance"**

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The goblin king looked at them sternly. "And you didn't realize this might occur?"

Six pairs of firey eyes blinked back at him innocently.

"It ain't never been a problem before!"

"Yeah – mix up a head, an ear – it always goes back!"

"Well, almost always-"

"But you the king – you fix anything, no? We good subjects of yours."

"The best!"

And then, altogether, "Pleeeeeeeeeeeease…."

The king closed his eyes briefly, took a measured breath, and then remarked crisply, "Very well – but the next time you play Twister, you will remove the 'Complete Jumble' option from the spinner."


	4. Gift

**Prompt: "Gift"**

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"Most generous." Jareth's courtly voice was polished, smoothly dismissive of small worldly discomforts and trusting his visitors would also ignore such things, as diplomacy demanded. He looked at the illuminated document entitling him to all the bounty of the named land.

"It has been in our family for generations. We thought you a fitting steward for it while we are away, and have taken the liberty of relocating it nearer to you."

After the Didymus family made their departure, he off-handedly directed his steward to locate the source of the infernal stench that had recently appeared and remove it.


	5. Hurt

**Prompt: "Hurt"**

* * *

Two pairs of aggrieved eyes looked at Jareth.

"It's serious, your majesty-"

"It is _not_, you whining little-"

"Shut up! I am talking to the king, you stinkin' pile of firey droppings-"

"_What_ did you call me-"

"Silence!" The king's voice thundered, ominous with implied threat. "You will tell me – without any more of your incessant bickering – what exactly your complaint is. Or I will acquaint you both most intimately with the Bog."

Twin gulps echoed in the chamber.

At last, the first one spoke. "C-c-ould you d-decide for us if my mother _is_ a fraggin' aardvark?"


	6. New

**Prompt: "New"**

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**

"It was rather lax of you."

Attired in his best, he drew himself up to his full height. "How was _I_ to know she'd waited out of sight? No one ever has! You ask the Missus! She'll tell you!"

Jareth closed his eyes briefly, before opening them to regard the worm. "Perhaps in the future you ought not to advertise that one direction leads – and I quote from her now – 'straight to that castle'."

"But-"

"Not even as a humorous throw-away remark."

"But-"

"Not even if you're sure she's gone."

The worm glowered for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, fine…."


	7. Frost

**Prompt: "Frost"**

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"What eez dese cold steenky crrrap? Eet eez all over my feh-thers."

The Wiseman inhaled slowly, pondering. "It would seem…that perhaps…"

"Oy! Will you get to dee point alreh-dy?"

He let out a disgruntled huff before continuing. "…that perhaps this morning's dew…"

"Yes yes, I'm waiteeng here for your words of weesdom!"

He cleared his throat loudly. "…came from…a different source…than we are used to…and it has been a frigid morning…"

The Bird Hat paused, disbelief roiling over its features. "Dees eez de lahst time I let you pick where we sleep! Deeesgusting. 'Change of pace', my fine feh-thered behind!"


	8. Steps

**Prompt: "Steps"**

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The muttering and whispers grew stronger, and many a mask and feather were noticeably drooping. Finally, one of the more forthright dancers approached the king.

"Your majesty?"

One perfectly arched golden eyebrow raised in response. "Yes?"

"We realize variety is important, especially after how long we've all been performing this dance scene. And we know how fond you are of the mortal world and their innovations…"

One leather-booted foot began to tap ever so slightly in time to the music. "Mmm?"

"…but we're not sure we're really suited to Afro Jazz Pop as an ensemble."


	9. Storm

**Prompt: "Storm"**

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Jareth surveyed the chaotic scene below. Foul, reeking water (three guesses where they had gotten _that_) splashed the castle walls at irregular intervals, interspersed with what appeared to be an attempt at rhythmic drum rolls. Some troops had formed ranks to blow great puffs of air as well, and appeared on the verge of hyperventilation.

He closed his eyes briefly, took a measured breath, and then turned to address the captain of his army. "Captain, when I suggested the army stage a mock storming of the castle as a practice for future invasions, this is not precisely what I meant."


	10. Sleep

**Prompt: "Sleep"**

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She blinked rapidly, shuddering, nodding her head sharply. How long had it been? Her eyes were grainy, heavy-

Panic blurred her eyes open. She tried to control a hysterical half-giggle. Too long, too long, can't keep this up forever, it's only forever, not long at aaaall-

Mismatched eyes peered imperiously into hers, a wicked smile waiting.

Her own scream snapped her awake that time. Her breaths came hard, painful. Couldn't let him catch her, no, couldn-

But she had already slipped again, seamlessly into the liquid darkness, into velvet-clad arms that wrapped around her, victorious and possessive and demanding.


	11. Lost

**Prompt: "Lost"**

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Drifting, drifting, relegated to the gray…because of defeat? It was difficult to remember, difficult to hold on to coherency…

Then, with the swiftness of thought, he was called again, remembered, given form, given _name_ again. A familiar name, a most welcome form. He opened mismatched eyes, inhaled sweet air.

Her eyes held his with a fierce will, though her voice was soft and hoarse with too much experience. "I've been lost."

A wintry smile spread across his face, familiar and comfortably condescending. It contained more than a hint of threat. "What makes you think it is better to be found?"


	12. Watch

**Prompt: "Watch"**

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"It is…wholly remarkable," Jareth hedged, as he studied the latest creation of the master inventor.

"Indeed!" came the cantankerous reply. "Do you have any idea how long it took to get those spirals so they followed that golden ratio business those human mathematicians are so fond of?"

"Yes, speaking of that...given your fondness for human customs – and, presumably, ours – why does it have thirteen hours instead of, say, twelve?"

"Hmmph! Thirteen is a far more fitting number for a goblin kingdom."

"Mmm, yes. But it's not precisely useful at the moment, is it?"

"What? You can reorder time, can't you?"


	13. Chase

**Prompt: "Chase"**

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He regarded her silently.

"I...needed you," she offered, ashamed at her hope.

He tilted his head in a graceful, predatory movement, his expression unreadable. "And what _exactly_ did you need me for?"

Her eyes closed as the words burst from her, "I need what you gave me then, I need the challenge, I need the chase..." She trailed off, feeling weak suddenly, full of insufficient words. "What now?" she asked in a small voice.

The air of threat and cool menace made her shiver as he leaned close, his voice as precise as a blade, "Perhaps, Sarah, you should _run_."


	14. Leaves

**Prompt: "Leaves"**

_Author's Note: This is based on a favorite grammar joke of mine involving comma overuse, which states that the panda is an animal that "eats, shoots, and leaves"._**_  
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Sarah looked at the next assignment, her red pen poised to grade the student's assessment of fanfiction archetypes.

_Sexy Villain: Steals, kisses, and leaves_

Hmmph - clearly comma overuse, but what was the intended meaning? "Steals kisses" worked, but "steals leaves"? She'd have to mark that dow-

Wait, where was her pen?

She turned to find Jareth standing over her, twirling said pen and grinning puckishly. Quick as thought, he pressed his mouth to hers and then vanished.

Sarah blinked, and then turned back to the student's assignment, pulling out a new pen to write _Nicely concise and accurate description._


	15. Fair

**Prompt: "Fair"**

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"Fair?" Jareth asked, his voice low with disdain and intent. "Fair is for fairy tales."

"Actually," Sarah replied matter-of-factly, "it isn't. Fairy tales are tales of fairy, not tales of fair-y. The form of the words is just a coincidence."

He blinked. "You know, you make it difficult to use proper villain-esque rejoinders."

Her smile was wry. "Serves you right for trying to verbally spar with an ex-English teacher with a penchant for etymology."

His smile mirrored hers. "I should never have let you make it through graduate school before seeing you again."

"Such a pity," came her teasing reply.


	16. Thanks

**Prompt: "Thanks"**

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"One might think you would be appreciative, thankful. Possibly gracious." One eyebrow was quirked as Jareth leaned his chin on his hands, a half-smile twisting his lips.

Sarah continued to stare at him. "But I didn't...you can't...I didn't _call_ you."

The smile became wolfish. "You do know that your conscious call isn't the only one I'm oh-so-cruelly bound by, don't you?"

An unhealthy flush crept up her neck as certain dream images teased at the edge of her memory. "Conscious?"

"_Someone changed her miiiind_," he chanted out, before dropping to a taunting, all-too-knowing tone,"...or did someone's mind change for her?"


	17. Ring

**Prompt: "Ring"**

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It was a simultaneous stentorian boom of sound in the throne room, a surprisingly tinny - and certainly unholy - rendition of Blondie's "Call Me" erupting from goblin pockets, goblin chests, goblin shoes, and in one notable case, one very surprised pet chicken.

Jareth closed his eyes briefly before turning to his chief of staff, who appeared rather pleased with himself.

"I commend your embrace and adaptation of mortal technology. However," Jareth continued, doing his best to block out the auditory havoc, "when I said we should be prepared to answer Sarah's call, this is not as I imagined it."


	18. Surrender

**Prompt: "Surrender"**

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"And you're absolutely sure?"

"Absolutely!" came the trilled reply.

"You'd really rather risk an entire year than give in just this once?"

Sir Didymus stiffened with an affronted air. "It is vile, base, and cowardly to do otherwise!"

"Mmmm, I see," said Jareth, ending the game with a devastating triple word score involving a rather foul goblin vernacular word that included both Q and Z.

Sir Didymus gibbered at him, flabbergasted.

Jareth's smile quirked in amusement. "In the future, I wouldn't consider surrender such a contemptible option. In the meantime, enjoy guardianship of the bog for a year, noble knight."


	19. Dance

**Prompt: "Dance"**

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Sarah's eyes flared with frustrated rage, the last jibe hitting far too close to home. She had clearly lost ground in their verbal sparring, and they had yet to move to the floating three-quarters rhythm of the waltz.

"You are absolutely infuriating," she finally said, enunciating each word with a biting vehemence. "I'm sick of your repartee, Jareth. I thought you invited me to _dance_."

He flashed that wicked, wolfish grin she remembered so very clearly, his voice a slippery silver cadence of amused satisfaction that reverberated along her skin. "Mmmm, but I thought that's just what we were doing."


	20. Found

**Prompt: "Found"**

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Finally, the face on the righthand door paused for breath.

"Mmm," interrupted Jareth, "so _that's_ how they ended up there." He turned to the lefthand face. "And you didn't hear these large metal rings being stolen. Somehow. Despite the large number of fireys involved."

The lefthand face colored slightly, but stood his ground. "All I can hear is _him_ jabbering non-stop!"

"Ha! That's because you never have anything interesting to say."

"I see," interjected Jareth, a puckish smile flickering briefly. "I believe I've found a solution to both the rings' location and this unfortunate situation between the two of you..."


	21. Kiss

**Prompt: "Kiss"**

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Sarah drew back, breathless, her lips still tasting him. "You know, in the stories, it's usually a bad idea when the heroine lets herself be seduced by the villain."

"Mmm," murmured Jareth, his cheshire grin flickering as he moved to the sensitive line of her neck, just below her ear. "Perhaps you've redefined who's what in your story."

"Could be," she managed, after another breathless moment. "That's likely why I married you, after all."

"Also," said Jareth, continuing his explorations along her skin, "your exquisite taste, my love."

"Mmm," she replied, before they slipped back into decidedly less verbal exchanges.


	22. Dream

**Prompt: "Dream"**

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A spiraling burst of color filled her senses. Jareth's leather-clad hand brushed along her face, a delicious coolness in the midst of the heat. It was so good, that rush of hunger, what had been barely the ghost of a memory before closing her eyes-

"This isn't real, is it?" Sarah murmured, desolation threatening the edges of her voice.

"Do you want to wake up?"

"No." It was a simple admission, even as shame burned under her skin. (But, oh how good to feel even that again!)

His words were whispered into her ear, threaded with insidious temptation. "Then don't."


	23. Memory

**Prompt: "Memory"**

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Sarah looked down at the ragged beggar, his tremulous hand shaking its metal cup. Something shimmered in her electroshock-muddied thoughts even as she said, "I'm sorry, I have nothing."

"Nothing?" he whispered, tilting his head in a distinctly avian fashion.

She blinked, noticing the elegance of his hand, his aquiline nose.

"Nothing?" Jareth said again, his voice stronger, the persistent weariness of iron poisoning slipping from him as he remembered how to block its effect.

"Nothing?" A light mockery to it now, as he raised his mismatched eyes to hers.

"Nothing, tra la la?" they breathed simultaneously, sudden recognition blazing.


	24. Change

**Prompt: "Change"**

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The agony was unbelievable. Again. Only this time with feathers disappearing beneath skin, bones thickening and eyesight dimming.

Sarah glanced sharply at Jareth. "You neglected to mention how much it hurt."

"You didn't ask. Besides, it's all in your mind."

"Ha! I would argue it's all in my body."

"That's only because your mind has been attached to that shape for a long time."

She snorted. "You _would_ say something like that."

He smiled. "Even magic has its rules, Sarah. You'll get used to it if you've a will to."

"Rat trickster."

"Harpy."

"Scoundrel."

"Harridan."

"I love you."

"I know."


	25. Wish

**Prompt: "Wish"**

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The withered devastation was numbing.

"What…?" Words failed Sarah.

Jareth's voice sliced through her. "With your will as strong as mine, what did you imagine the effect of your incessant wishing would be, pray tell?"

"I…I thought…," she whispered, "the more wishes I made, the more magnificent it would become-"

"Enough," he spat. "This realm is no Fantastica, and you are no Bastian Balthazar Bux."

She swallowed. "Can it be saved?"

His eyes closed briefly, his voice low. "I do not know. Are you willing to try?"

"Yes, of course."

He extended his hand. "Then let's be on our way."


	26. Missing

**Prompt: "Missing"**

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"…and den I waz left like dees!" finished the aggrieved bird.

Jareth surveyed the bird's head, now firmly attached to the Wiseman's hat. "Yet you admit you willingly participated in the strip poker party with the Fireys?"

The bird had the grace to look abashed. "But strip poker means clothes!"

Jareth raised his eyebrows. "Does it?"

"What am I supposed to do? I can't stay like dees!" The bird rolled its eyes meaningfully at the Wiseman. "I'll go crazy!"

Jareth's lips twitched in a half-smile. "I suggest you become accustomed to your new position until you get better at cards."


	27. Fool

**Prompt: "Fool"**

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Jareth's eyes flashed coldly. "Explain yourself."

Jylde wouldn't look up. "Was own creation. Stewed peaches with face cream instead of custard, glitter garnish. Good joke!"

"And why, pray tell, did you leave this concoction by Sarah's bedside with a note saying 'Wid luv from yer Jerreth'"?

Jylde's brow furrowed. "You said follow Aboveground custom! It April 1. So I made lady a fool. Peach and glitter fool!"

Jareth's eyes closed briefly as understanding trickled in. "And the note?"

Jylde looked sheepish. "Make king different kind of fool. So can participate!"

Silence simmered.

"Sometimes," Jareth murmured, "I truly hate ruling here."


	28. Letter

**Prompt: "Letter"**

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The goblin's horns twitched jubilantly. "I win!"

"What was the word?" Jareth's voice was deadly soft.

The goblin blinked, looking shifty. "Er, tricksy."

A pause. "There is no Q in 'tricksy'."

A sly, sheepish grin appeared. "But that's why it's _tricksy_, see?"

"I see. Well, perhaps such a winner of Hang Man…" Jareth's fingers snapped and there was a sudden dazzling light. "…should be hung himself."

The goblin felt something smoothly metallic filling his mouth, and he couldn't feel anything below the neck. An indignant realization overcame him. "Nrt frrr!"

Jareth's smile was feral. "Sorry, what's that? Can't hear you."


	29. Broken

**Prompt: "Broken"**

* * *

Jareth stepped into what had once been the grand receiving room and immediately reeled.

Haamspray squirmed. "Much nicer air pressure changes now, your majesty."

Jareth's visual perception warred with his proprioception, which was having a field day with his reason to create a nauseating effect that made him stagger sideways. The look he cast the goblin under-architect was not kind. "Permanent?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"I see." Jareth closed his eyes briefly as he regained his balance. He then strolled up an arching staircase that left him oriented 90 degrees sideways from Haamspray, who goggled slightly. "I suppose there are benefits."


	30. Path

**Path**

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"I know you have it in you." The goblin king's gaze pierced his obstinate subject, who twitched beneath the scrutiny. "All your former braggadocio...surely this is the chance you've been waiting for." The softness of his voice signaled the end of his patience.

There was an uncomfortable throat clearing and a pause. "For the path you will take will lead to DOOM! Doom rained upon your doomed head! Doom doom doom..." And here began a seemingly random, endless melody consisting only of the word _doom_.

"Cursed be the one who brought those Invader Zim episodes Underground," muttered one False Alarm.


End file.
